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World War II Valor in the Pacific, a National Park, is a must visit for every Oahu visitor. The National Park is located at Pearl Harbor and includes the U.S.S. Arizona and two museums along the harbor. The December 7, 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor drew the United States into World War II. The World War II Valor in the Pacific National Park houses many artifacts, short movies and interactive exhibits.

There are plenty of tours advertised around Oahu which will take you to Pearl Harbor. The advantage of a paid tour is knowing you will have a seat on the boat out to the U.S.S. Arizona. Those who want to save the money can arrive at the park early in the day and receive free tickets. The Visitor Center only provides 1,300 tickets per day. With over 4,000 visitors to the park per day the tickets go fast. The entrance to the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center is free. Access to the two museums along the harbor are also free. Parking is also free. No bags are allowed in the park. There are warning signs in the parking lot that a lot of break-ins occur. There is a manned bag checking station available for a nominal fee.

Insider tip-if tickets are available for the day but not for a time you want, still get them. Walk over to the tour bus operators at the park entrance, be nice and sometimes they are willing to swap tickets for an ideal time.

Programs run every 15 minutes and tickets are for a specific time. At the appointed time ticket holders gather in a staging area. From the staging area ticket holders move into an auditorium to watch a 23 minute video prior to boarding the boat. The U.S. Navy operates the boats that travel to and from the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. If there are high winds all boat trips are cancelled.

Flowers left from the 75th anniversary

The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial symbolizes the lives lost during the attack. Young men that made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Visitors should remember they are visiting the resting place of these soldiers and be respectful with their behaviors.

As of January 8, 2017 there were only 5 U.S.S. Arizona survivors, ranging in age from 94 to 97 years old. These men all reside on the mainland. (The local term for the rest of the United States.) Of the five survivors, four of them made the journey back to Pearl Harbor for the 75th anniversary in December of 2016.

Upon arrival there is a short guided tour by a park employee before allowing time to explore. My mother’s heart was struck this visit by the 38 sets of brothers on board the U.S.S. Arizona at the time of the attack. 63 of the 79 brothers died during the attack. There was only one set of brothers who both survived the attack. There were 3 sets of three brothers on board and only 1 brother from each family survived. Also killed in action on the U.S.S Arizona was a father and son pair. I imagine when the brothers became shipmates the family found relief knowing the brothers could watch over each other, never imagining the unthinkable would happen.

Entrance

The U.S.S. Arizona

Oil still seeping from the remains

The U.S.S. Bowfin and U.S.S. Bowfin museum has a nominal fee and is based at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. The U.S.S. Missouri, is nearby and has a fee to access the boat. Finally, the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor is also nearby and has an access fee.

We have started to have fun with math on Mondays. The fun can range from reading a book or playing a game, as long as it is a fun way to play with math in a non-traditional way. Monday morning we poured our sweet tea and gathered at the couch to read “Blockhead, the Life of Fibonacci” by Joseph D’Agnese.

The book is about the Italian Mathematician that discovered a mathematical pattern often found in nature. I picked this book as a good lead in to go for a nature walk and to introduce Roman Numerals. Throughout the story there are opportunities to answer math questions.

All reading stopped when we reached the rabbit riddle. We worked together, made a chart on the white board and solved for the number of rabbit’s at the end of the year. We struggled for a while to see the pattern.

The next day we finished the book. On the very last page there is a list of things to find throughout the pages of the book.

Finally, we took the Fibonacci Spiral and went on a rabbit trail. We used our manipulatives to recreate the Fibonacci Spiral. It was all manipulatives on deck as we had to combine colors once we got to the last section. The Fibonacci Spiral (Golden Ratio also works well in a search engine) was so pretty we decided to take the rest of the week to recreate it by using a compass to mark the corners and a ruler-thank you Google!

We had lots of big, juicy conversations about different things in the book that I hadn’t anticipated. I don’t expect all Math Mondays to extend in to the week but am open to following the rabbit trails. Do you have something similar to Math Mondays in your homeschool?